REGULATORS DISCUSS SAN ONOFRE CONCERNS

Capistrano Beach 
Nuclear safety officials described new concerns about plans to restart an idled San Onofre reactor at a public meeting attended by more than 1,000 people Tuesday night.

Plant operator Southern California Edison has requested federal approval to restart the Unit 2 reactor at 70 percent power for five months before running further inspections. The twin-reactor plant has been shut down for a year because of rapid wear on tubing within recently replaced steam generators.

A table of experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced they are preparing at least five new technical questions for Edison related to the restart proposal, but said the agency remains on track to issue a decision as soon as late April.

Nuclear commission officials also announced that they have hired two outside consultants to review the work of the agency’s “augmented inspection team” that analyzed the conditions at the plant during several site visits last year.

Edison officials, including CEO Ted Craver, took front row seats at a packed church venue with room for 1,100.

Political and government representatives from San Diego County, the City of San Diego, Del Mar and Solana Beach and Los Angeles spoke or read prepared statements, emphasizing the gravity of safety concerns.

Several called on the nuclear commission to open a quasi-judicial license amendment review of the plant and its restart request.

The nuclear commission is considering petitions by the environmental and nuclear safety group Friends of the Earth that could result in a license amendment proceeding.

The nuclear regulatory commission plans to hold at least two more public meetings about the restart plan review, including a local meeting about the agency’s final recommendations.